French election debate: as it happened

The two final contenders in France's presidential election, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, went head-to-head in a televised debate on Wednesday, just four days before Sunday's decisive second round.

Macron came out on top in the election's first round on April 23, winning 24 percent of the vote ahead of Le Pen with 21.3 percent.

The latest opinion polls show Macron winning the support of 59 percent of voters in the second round while 41 percent back Le Pen.

POLITICO's live blog covered all the key moments in the debate, with instant reaction and analysis.

Related stories on these topics:

wow

Macron said in support of no frexit:……’ and France would need to settle its financial obligations to the EU. He mentions the upcoming Brexit negotiations, in which the EU expects the U.K. to pay tens of billions of euros.’

UK being used by Barnier before today’s debate to shore up a Macron win. Yep.